Saudi women drive over men-only rule

Sunday

Oct 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 27, 2013 at 2:22 PM

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - More than 60 women across Saudi Arabia claimed that they drove cars yesterday in defiance of a ban keeping them from getting behind the wheel, facing little protest by police in their push for easing restrictions on women in the kingdom.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — More than 60 women across Saudi Arabia claimed that they drove cars yesterday in defiance of a ban keeping them from getting behind the wheel, facing little protest by police in their push for easing restrictions on women in the kingdom.

The campaign’s message is that driving should be a woman’s choice. The struggle is rooted in the kingdom’s hard-line interpretation of Islam known as Wahabbism, with critics warning that women driving could unravel the very fabric of Saudi society.

Although no laws ban women from driving in Saudi Arabia, authorities don’t issue them licenses. Women who drove yesterday had driver’s licenses from abroad, activists said.

Aziza Youssef, a professor at King Saud University, and another activist said protest organizers received 13 videos and about 50 phone messages from women showing or claiming that they had driven. She said they have no way to verify the messages.

May Al Sawyan, a 32-year-old mother of two and an economic researcher, said she drove from her home in Riyadh to the grocery store and back. Activists uploaded a four-minute video of her driving experience to the campaign’s YouTube account.

Al Sawyan said she was prepared to be jailed if caught by authorities.

“I just took a small loop,” she said. “I didn’t drive for a long way, but it was fine.”

Al Sawyan’s husband and family waited at home and called her nervously when she arrived at the store to check on her, she said. She drove with a local female television reporter in the car. They were both without male relatives in the vehicle, which in itself defies the country’s strict norms requiring women to have a male relative along in public.

“I am very happy and proud that there was no reaction against me,” Al Sawyan said.

It is unclear whether police turned a blind eye to women driving or simply didn’t see the scattered, quick spins around towns. An Associated Press employee in Riyadh said there were no roadblocks or checkpoints set up to watch for female drivers.

A security official said authorities didn’t arrest or fine any female drivers yesterday.

Ahead of the protest, authorities offered mixed messages, perhaps cautious not to push too hard against the kingdom’s religious establishment. Hard-line clerics say women driving will lead to “ licentiousness.” A prominent cleric also caused a stir when he said that medical studies show driving a car harms a woman’s ovaries.